Allotment Tour/Autumn Tidy Up.

Hello Hello!
So over the past couple of weeks I have been busy tidying up my plot for ‘inspections’ and getting it prepped and put to bed for winter. I’ve not really shared much progress from the plot recently so I thought I would give you a pre-tidy tour of my allotment. Its a pre-tidy one because I forgot to do an after shot. Also it shows the real #allotmentlife.This is the entrance to my plot. It’s a bit of a dumping ground. I have a giant IBC, which i’ve changed my mind about using, but I have no idea what to do with it! I’d rather use the space for composting.

This space is currently unused, I’ve tried to keep the weeds at bay with this giant cover, which keeps coming loose. It’s a lot tidier since this photo. Weeds have been pulled and foliage composted. Not sure how to lay this part out yet. (Ignore the Pram #Mumlife)This is the view from my shed ‘veranda’. There is quite the difference in ground level between the top and bottom of the plot. It also slopes in places. This being one of those areas. You can see my Son’s pumpkin bottom left. The rest of our pumpkins were grown in the furthest raised bed (top of picture). I’ve covered the two beds in the middle for winter to prevent weeds growing. I did this last year in what was this years rhubarb/pumpkin bed. It worked well. I do add rotted manure to the beds between Autumn and Spring though to add nutrients for next years growing season.

This side looks pretty chaotic/messy. Right over to the left in the bed furthest away (top of picture) I grow my autumn raspberries and strawberries. I’m thinking of moving these for next year. Middle bed was a huge fail this year. Rabbits ate everything. Then the bed nearest had all my tomatoes in it. They have now been pulled up to make room for onions and garlic. Which have been planted since these pictures were taken. I’m also thinking of moving my sons raised bed (bottom left) to make room for a small pond. As I think the wildlife would like to hide in my wood piles under the shed.
We picked all the tomatoes in the green and filled this big box. As the weather cooled, I didn’t hold out much hope they would ripen outside.

I’ve since managed to ripen most of them indoors. Some went mouldy?! I’ve frozen some Moneymakers whole. We will see how that works out.

“Artisan Bumble Bee Mix” Ripened at home.

As I mentioned above we have plot inspections, we have a few rules in our agreement forms that we should abide by. It wasn’t until commenting on Twitter, that I realised I may be on a rule heavy plot, whilst others don’t have many, if any rules!

One of these rules is to keep our plots tidy and communal areas clean too. So I set about getting rid of the nettles that bordered my greenhouse and removed the wonky chicken wire that lined my plot.

The chippings look much neater and will keep the weeds at bay much longer! (I hope!)

That’s about all for my little show and tell update of the progress on the plot. The Pumpkins have now made it to the house and there is a lot more gravel laying to be done.